Thesis by Marguerite Griffith Tyler (1881-1969) written in partial fulfillment of her doctoral degree in chemistry from Columbia University. Tyler earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan (1903) and Master's degree from the University of Chicago (1910), both in chemistry. She taught at the University of Cincinnati (1904-1905), headed the science department at Barrett Manual Training High School (1906-1910), instructed at the State College of Washington (1911-1912), and was head of the science work in the Lewiston, Idaho, State Normal School (1912-1926) before beginning her doctoral studies.

After completing her doctorate at Columbia, Tyler taught at Limestone College in South Carolina and at the University of Kentucky before becoming a professor at Athens College in Alabama in 1936. In 1941, she left Athens College for Oak Ridge, Tennessee where she began work on the Manhattan Project.

Tyler authored several research publications and wrote numerous articles on science and science education, including a large part of the science section of the Idaho manual for High School Teachers.